


not either or

by nonbinarywithaknife (littleboxes)



Series: dimension 20 [73]
Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Acceptance, Campaign 01 Season 02: Fantasy High Sophomore Year (Dimension 20), Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Figueroth Faeth, Self-Discovery, just a couple of nonbinaries nonbinarying, other characters appear briefly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:55:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26385982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleboxes/pseuds/nonbinarywithaknife
Summary: Fig has a talk with Garthy.
Relationships: Figueroth Faeth & Garthy O'Brien
Series: dimension 20 [73]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706107
Comments: 12
Kudos: 79





	not either or

**Author's Note:**

> 1k of projecting hourssssssssssssssssssss  
> so much projecting. it's all projecting. i see fig i Project. but also. fig is nonbinary and uses she/her pronouns and i am Correct  
> title is from jinkx monsoon's just me (the gender binary blues)

The thing is, is- they’ve already bothered Garthy so much. Even Fig knows that you can only barge into someone’s room unexpectedly so many times before they start getting mad at you, and they really need to not get kicked out of the Gold Gardens, and honestly there’s a big part of Fig that sort of never wants to talk to them again because they’re _really nice_ even though her mom lied. But. 

There’s an itch behind Fig’s ears, under her skin, has been there ever since she heard about Garthy O’brien and heard _they_ , and. 

The sun is just creeping into the sky. She’s awake, and none of Adaine’s alarms went off, and the spell will probably fade soon anyway, so she’s not, like, _risking_ anybody, if she just sneaks out. So she does.

As she walks toward Garthy’s rooms, she twists her guitar pick in between her fingers. It’s not like she even has to go through with it. She could just- stop walking. Go back to her rooms, watch over her friends until they wake up. _But_. 

She stares at the wooden door. And stares at the wooden door. Hums something that might be her next song, if she can ever figure it out more than just the little rhythm stuck in her throat, under her breath. Raises her fist to knock, and then the door opens. 

She only has a second to wonder if there’s some kind of magic that alerts them to her presence, before Garthy looks down at her in surprise. So that’s a no on the magic. 

They sigh, but when they speak, they don’t sound mad. Or tired. Just surprised, and maybe a little worried.

“What are you doing up so early, luvvie?”

Fig, in a rare moment of nerves-induced panicked silence, just blinks rapidly. That’s embarrassing. Lying in the moment is kind of her whole _thing_. 

Garthy must see something in her face, though, because something in their expression softens. 

“Well. Come on, then,” they say, and start walking further into the Gardens. 

Fig follows them, trying to sort out what she wants to ask. Because she _does_ , she does want to ask something. It’s just that- well. During the time she would’ve normally been thinking about all this stuff, her head basically exploded and she grew horns and her life sort of. Fell apart. So. It’s hard, to try and find the words. 

Garthy leads her to a simple wooden door that looks identical to all the other wooden doors she’s seen here, except they press a hand against it and it glows red, and then they enter and she walks in behind them, and it’s _really not simple_ inside. 

There’s a huge magic circle on the ground, and if Fig were Adaine she could probably read it, but she isn’t, so she squints and maybe recognizes some of the runes as divine, but mostly it’s just- _beautiful_ , all spread across the floor. There are tables along the walls, and a lot of candles that are lit with different colored flames, and all sorts of cushions on the floor that isn’t covered by runes.

Garthy moves about the room, gathering things into their hands, before they gracefully kneel in the center of the circle, their hands splayed against the runes. Their eyes glow gold, and their tattoos glow gold, and neon red wings outline behind their back. 

It’s- a lot. For a second, Fig just stares, but a few seconds later, the wings fade away, and Garthy holds out a mug to Fig. 

“It’s watered down, don’t worry,” they say, and Fig takes a sip. It’s… rum? She’s pretty sure? It mostly just tastes like sweet water. 

“So. You look troubled. What’s on your mind, luv?”

Fig sits down on a cushion at the edge of the circle and thinks for another second, before the words get blurted out. 

“How did you- you know,” she says, and then reddens at the ineloquence. “I mean- you aren’t- how did you know that you use they?”

She hates how clumsy her questions are, but she doesn’t know how else to ask, and she _hates_ it, because it makes her think about meeting other tieflings for the first time and learning about things like horn cream and the right way to sit so your tail doesn't ache secondhand, but she knows those things now, and maybe she’ll know these things after this. So.

Garthy doesn’t look offended, though, they just smile softly and tilt their head. 

“Ah.I suppose… it’s just a gut feeling I’ve always had. Even if I wasn’t thinking about it, I was thinking about it. I’m not a man, or a woman, I’m just.. me. Using the pronouns I do was just, well. Like finally getting to eat the food you’ve been craving for ages, and never going back.”

Fig looks at the ground because. Yeah. _Yeah_. 

“What if… what if you like the pronouns you’ve always had, though, but not because you’re like, a girl? Can you still... Is that- does that count? Even if you like girl stuff?”

There’s a gentle hand on her chin, and Garthy smiles down at her as they tilt her head up. 

“Luvvie, if you feel it, it counts. The only rules are the ones you make for yourself, and you don’t strike me as _any_ kind of rule follower.”

Fig hums her tune into her mug for a few minutes, and Garthy explains some of the runes to her. She doesn’t really get it, but the room is warm, in a way that’s more than the early sun shining through the windows, and their voice is soothing, and it’s a nice break from the stress of their quest. 

But eventually she leaves, setting the mug on a table and muttering a quiet, “Thanks.”

Garthy waves as she leaves.

She meets Ayda Aguefort, and they quest on, and a bunch of shit happens, and Fabian has a crisis, and Adaine gets kidnapped, and then they’re in the forest and all her fears are real but so are her friends, and then they’re _out_ and they’re _alive_ and she has a girlfriend and there wasn’t really time for thinking, during the fighting and the teleporting and the _oh gods I have feelings_ but now…

“So… did Fig actually say what this party is for?”

“Her new album, maybe? But we already know about that?”

“She doesn’t have any personal events coming up, I checked her calendar-”

“Do you have _calendars_ on us, the Ball?”

“Of course I don’t, obviously, what are you even _talking_ about-,”

The bickering of the Bad Kids stops as the piano opens. Fig pops out, and she’s wearing a flag that's yellow, white, purple and black, and she strums her bass before yelling, “I’m not a girl! I will now take your questions.”

She does, nervous, but smiling, as Ragh lifts her up onto his shoulders and all her friends bury her in hugs, and Ayda waits until they all separate to give her a quick kiss on the mouth, and then later her mom gives her the _tightest_ hug and tells her that she’s so proud and that she loves her very much, and Gilear gives her a slightly less intense hug, not for lack of trying and more for lack of muscles, and tells her very seriously that he loves her very much, and Gorthalax wraps her in his arms and lifts her up off the ground and tells her _Fig, you tell me if you ever have any problems, I will send them straight to the pit_ , and Fig reminds him that it’s technically _her_ pit now, and she’ll just make them jump out a window or something, and he laughs and says, _that’s my kid!_ and her smile feels like it’s splitting her face in half. 

Jawbone gives her the softest hug in the world and tells her he’s very proud of her and that she’s welcome to talk to him or he can get her someone with more common experiences for her to talk to, _whatever makes you comfortable, kiddo_ , and Fig’s heart feels a little like it’s going to explode, kind of like when she kissed Ayda the first time but like, like her heart is a billion supernovas all exploding at once, and it’s pretty great.

**Author's Note:**

> listen the timeline on this one is iffy and the characterizations are all from memory rip but its not about that its about the Vibes  
> also garthy opens fig's eyes to the gender binary and all the possible ways to Smash It. after all, why just rebel against authority when gender norms are Right There  
> i'm on tumblr [here!](https://nonbinarywithaknife.tumblr.com)


End file.
